St. Moritz sits at 1,822 metres in the Engadin, a high, wide valley of larches, lakes and light that people have been praising for centuries. The town's reputation began in 1864, when a hotelier named Johannes Badrutt is said to have bet his English summer guests that they would enjoy the winter in the mountains, and if they did not, he would pay their travel costs. They stayed until Easter, brown from the sun, and winter tourism was born. The Olympic Games came here in 1928 and again in 1948, and the Cresta Run, an ice-cold toboggan track dug into the hillside, has been in use since 1884.
The valley is the real draw. The Inn river starts nearby and runs north-east, linking a chain of lakes, and the water is dazzling on a clear day. Snow-covered peaks hang above the larch forests, and in autumn the larches turn gold, a few weeks of the year when the whole Engadin glows. The sun shines on more than three hundred days a year, according to the local claim, and the air at this height is dry, thin and sharp. Evening light on the lake, with the long shadows of the pines, is something a rider remembers.
Riding here is a matter of choice, with famous passes in all directions. The Julier road climbs north towards Savognin, the Bernina Pass leads south into Italy through glacier country, and the Maloja Pass drops dramatically from the valley floor towards Lake Como in a series of tight hairpins. All are paved, steep in places and open from late spring to autumn, though snow can close the higher ones at any time. The valley road itself is busy in summer, and the town centre is congested, with expensive parking and strict speed limits, so don't expect a quiet pull-in near the lake.
For fuel, St. Moritz has stations, and the neighbouring villages of Samedan and Celerina, both a few minutes away, are cheaper and quieter. Prices here are among the highest in Switzerland, and a coffee on the lakefront will cost you dearly, but a bakery in Celerina sells the Engadiner Nusstorte, a rich walnut and caramel pastry that is a local classic. Mornings are crisp even in July, so keep your gloves handy, and thunderstorms in the afternoon can build quickly over the ridges.